“It was a quiet day, so I locked up early. Besides, I was quite excited to spend some time with you,” Lindsay said and walked downstairs.
“I’ll come help you in a minute, I just want to unpack my clothes,” Ness called out. “Take your time,” Lindsay called back from downstairs.
Ness started unpacking her clothes and packed them into the dresser; then she took the paper with all of the details that she wrote down and hid it in her clean underwear. I’m going to have to think up a good excuse for bailing on them tomorrow with it being a Sunday, Ness thought worriedly. Once she was unpacked, she walked downstairs to see what Lindsay was up to in the kitchen.
“Would you like a glass of wine with lunch?” Lindsay asked as Ness entered the kitchen.
“Lunchtime drinking—I like it,” Ness laughed. “We might as well go a bit crazy,” Lindsay answered and started tossing the ingredients for a light chicken salad.
“Is white alright? I don’t think a red will go very well with this,” Lindsay asked.
“Perfect.”
“There’s a chilled bottle of chardonnay in the fridge. Would you pour us two glasses?”
Ness arose from her seat and grabbed two glasses from the kitchen cupboard, pouring the wine while Lindsay dished up the salad. They sat on the stools at the kitchen counter and dove into their salads. “You know, you’re one of the few people that I know that actually makes salad taste good,” Ness took another bite and then a sip of her wine. “Thank you, Ness,” Lindsay laughed. “I’ll take the compliment.”
“So, tell me, what have you been up to? I haven’t seen you in such a long time.”
“Been moping around, if I’m honest. But I’ve decided to get back on my feet, and I was thinking about re-enrolling back into school.”
“Ness, that’s great!” Lindsay exclaimed.
“I’m only a few credits short of getting my journalism degree, so I figured I might as well finish it and start working toward my independence. That’s what mom would have wanted,” Ness diverted her gaze.
Lindsay covered Ness’ hand with hers. “I’m proud of you Ness, and Sarah would have been proud of you, too. You two always had such a wonderful relationship—it made me wish that I had one like that with my mom.” Ness suddenly went pale.
“Ness, what’s wrong?”
“We had a fight on the night of the accident. I can’t even remember about what, but the last words that I said to her were rather harsh,” Ness’ eyes welled up with tears.
“Ness, your mom knew that you loved her, and family members do fight sometimes. It happens. That doesn’t change the way that you feel about each other,” Lindsay said, trying to console Ness. Ness nodded and eventually smiled.
“Would you like to come to church with me and Wyatt tomorrow?” Lindsay asked, changing the subject.
“Oh, no, thank you though. I was actually thinking of going back to Chicago tomorrow and have a walk around campus. I’d like to hit the library for a few hours and catch up on some reading before I go back,” Ness said. Please buy that story.
“That’s a great plan,” Lindsay stated.
Ness and Lindsay finished their lunch, and Ness offered to wash up. Lindsay went upstairs to sort a few things out and unpack some other items that she bought at the shops. Ness dried the last few dishes and went upstairs.
“Hey, Lindsay,” she called out.
Lindsay popped her head out of the bedroom, “What’s up?”
“I’m just going to have a nap for half an hour or so. Feeling a bit drained.”
“It might be the wine,” Lindsay laughed.
Ness walked into her room, collapsed on the bed, and was quickly whisked away into a deep, dreamless slumber.
10
Wyatt pulled into the driveway a little after 6:00 P.M. and had to navigate around Ness’ Civic. She always had the knack of parking badly; Wyatt shook his head but managed to get his vehicle around Ness’. He closed the garage and walked toward the front door.
“Hello, you two,” Wyatt said loudly as he walked inside.
“Shhhh,” Lindsay called from the kitchen. “Ness is asleep.”
“Really? It’s almost dark out. How long has she been asleep for?” Wyatt asked as he put his keys in the bowl on the table at the front door. “Since lunch.”
“Seriously? That’s a long time to be out.”
“I think she’s been a bit drained recently,” Lindsay whispered as she walked closer to Wyatt and kissed him on the lips. “How did your chat go with her?” Wyatt enquired.
“Well. I actually think she’s trying to turn her life around. She told me she’s going to re-enroll in school to finish her degree.”
“That explains why she’s been going to Chicago so regularly,” Wyatt smiled.
“Yeah, I guess so. Go wash up. Dinner’s almost ready, and you smell pretty bad. What did you do, run a marathon today?” Lindsay asked cheekily. “Ness told you, huh?” Wyatt started laughing. Lindsay nodded.
“I’ll quickly hop in the shower before dinner,” Wyatt said as he went upstairs and straight into the bathroom. He could see that Ness’ bedroom door was still closed. Wyatt stripped his uniform and turned the shower up to as hot as he could handle. Even though he exercised regularly, full-on sprints when you haven’t stretched can result in an uncomfortable amount of stiffness the next day, and Wyatt wasn’t in the mood to sound like an old man every time he got up from his desk. He let the steaming hot water stream all over his skin and over his sore muscles. He could
